Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c23.191

v1.c23.191

Dabba-Mallaputta Thera.—An arahant. He was born at Anupiya in a family of the Mallas.¹ As a child of seven he saw the Buddha who was visiting in the Malla country, and he asked his grandmother (his mother having died at his birth) if he might join the Order under the Buddha. She brought him to the Buddha and the boy became an arahant in the Tonsure-hall. He returned with the Buddha to Rājagaha where, with the Buddha’s sanction, and wishing to be of service to the Order, he took upon himself the task of appointing night’s-lodgings to travelling monks and of directing them to meals. He performed his duties most diligently and with great intelligence, and his fame spread far and wide. Monks coming from afar, wishing to witness his skill, would deliberately arrive late and ask for lodgings in some place remote from Rājagaha; Dabba would “burst into flame” and walk ahead of them, with his finger burning to light them on the way. It was the sight of Dabba on one of these journeys which led to a slave-woman, Puṇṇā, being visited by the Buddha, resulting in her becoming a Sotāpanna.²